During the next one to three years, Locallife will hire 1,000 employees in Web design, administration, sales and management.

As a leading information communication technologies firm, Locallife is looking to expand its concept nationally via a franchise model. The company will manage and support franchise operations across the country, in addition to the company-owned locations, from Scottsdale. With more than 2,000 planned U.S. Locallife directory Web sites, the company’s regional presence should grow to more than 4,000 employees during the next five years.

The strategic selection of SkySong for research and development opportunities with Arizona State University will support the company’s technology and growth plans.

“International interest in Greater Phoenix is escalating, and the addition of Locallife to the dynamic portfolio of companies at SkySong is a major foreign direct investment win,” said Barry Broome, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC). “The region’s technology work force will catalyze Locallife’s aggressive business model, and the company will benefit from developing partnerships with Arizona State on intellectual property.”

Tony Martin, holdings chairman of Locallife, said GPEC officials were instrumental in the site location decision.

“Not only did they open doors for us with local businesses and introduce us to our partners at Arizona State, they also gave us the red carpet treatment,” he pointed out.

Locallife’s selection of Scottsdale also symbolizes a win for the Arizona Global Network and its efforts to attract technology-based, innovation-driven jobs that pay higher wages than the market average.

“Locallife is one of many new foreign-owned companies looking seriously at capital investments in rizona thanks to the focused partnership on foreign direct investment,” said Jan Lesher, director of the Arizona Department of Commerce. “This is more proof that the investment in FDI efforts translates into near-term investment opportunities for the state. In such a short time, we have been able to achieve so much more than we have in the past.”

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